Heee…I love it. I usually find those size holes kind of disturbing but they’re just like built in birdie perches! And given how my birdies try to climb into my ear or try to make my regular tiny piercings accomodate their little feetsies, I shouldn’t be surprised!

i love how everyone is like “eww look at his ear”.. come on people, haven’t you ever seen gauged ears before? puh-lease. as someone who gauges, i say RIGHT ON! and if you can make a comfy nest for a cute chicky, all the better! I wish something that cute would sleep in my ears! :D

(I’m sorry but I just have issues with the ‘gauging’ practice of stretching out one’s earlobes…it’s just a very personal ick-factor thing for me, and while I know it’s the person’s body and their right to do it…still it makes me uncomfortable.)

How come people are uncomfortable and/or see something “artsy” or “alt” about all bod mods except for the “standard” ear piercings?

I mean, all those mamas with good values and sensible shoes don’t bat an eye at piercing their daughters’ earlobes, even when said daughters are tweens, children, infants! And yet, same tiny piercing, different place–nose, septum, navel, eyebrow–and it’s *shocking*!!

Interesting, what? I think of this because my older sister thinks that piercing ears is “mutilation” and won’t do it. :) I bought her magnetic earrings that looks like studs, only the backs are wee magnets, so she could wear pearl “earrings” on her wedding day. :)

I don’t have any “odd” piercings either, but I did do my ears in the conventional fashion. :)

My sister actually *did* complain that the magneto-earrings hurt, but our mother didn’t let her take them off. Our mother has been constantly upset over neither of her daughters being very “feminine.” :)

As someone with formerly-stretched lobes (yes, everyone, as long as they’re not absolutely huge, they do go entirely back to normal) I must say… this is the best argument for Kaos I have ever seen. They should buy rights to this photo and use it on their website.

“YUCK” is rather harsh for what boils down to just a difference of opinion on asthetics. :)

And yeah, I agree with you about potential employers. But to do a bod mod is a free choice, and you take the hits (change in people’s perspective of you) with the gains (happiness with your new decoration). So many choices in life involve such weighing and balancing.

Ewww! that is so gross. your hole in your ear is so freakin’ big!! the duck is cute but you ruin the picture and your hole ruined the freakin’ picture to. talkin’ about that peircing right below your lip thats pretty gross too! i’m pretty sure it took a long time to get the hole in your ear that big to fit that thing in it. and im sure it hurt too.

This just goes to show how closed minded people can be. They think that ear piercing is fine, and plastic surgery, and maybe even body building. The latter two are considered an extreme body modification just the same as stretching ears or any other part of the body. Why condone one and turn your nose up at the other.

I am in the awwww….eeewwww…owwwww camp. I have seen people with stretched ears. Personally it is not my thing and I find it icky. Just as people have the right to stretch their ears, I have the right to look at said ears and say “ewww” or “owwww” or “cool.” It’s called free speech! Plus, people who do that have to expect and know that not everyone will find it the most attractive fashion statement. I mean, come on. It is a matter of personal tastes.

I do like the chickie tho and the dude looks quite pleased. But, I rate the entire pic as low on the cute factor.

I hope you people freaked out by body mods never have to visit Berkeley, or San Francisco, or Olympia, or any other wild west coast town. The people who shop in Target are the ones who freak me out. LOVE the rattie too!!

Okay. Part of me wants to say ew, but not a very big part. I don’t find “stretching,” “gauging,” or whatever it’s called gross. The only thing that ever crosses my mind is: “What will they look like in 20, 30, 40 years?” I know Sara (I think it was a Sara) said they go back to normal, but what if someone keeps it like this for a long time? Just curious. That’s what I am when I see these types of piercings.

Like someone else mentioned: If you have nothing to say, keep it that way.

Ohh, and as someone else also pointed out, please, for the love of all things good in this world, stop calling stretched piercings ‘gauges’. Once you go past actual gauges(i.e. anything smaller than 00ga), you get into millimetres or inches. Therefore, no longer measured in gauges. ‘Stretching’ is the term. It makes sense(almost universally).

While I’m at it, when you’re out somewhere, and you get the feeling that you need to explain your stance on the way other people look(you’re out there, I deal with you almost daily), just do yourself a favour, and don’t. I don’t ask why your hair looks like a bird’s nest, or why you wear a kilogram of makeup, so please be as considerate.

for anyone who’s interested or cares either way:
Stretched piercings (anywhere on the body) CAN go back to normal if the hole isn’t stretched too big (Brian’s ear has no chance of going back to normal, but i doubt he has an issue with that, heh).. it takes a bit of time, just like it does to get the piercing that stretched out.
The alternative some people go for who break their earlobes by stretching to thin, or by doing it the wrong way (yes, there is a RIGHT way to do it), is cosmetic surgery- basically the doctor cuts off the stretched part and sews the remainder of the lobe together to look like a normal ,albeit shorter, earlobe.
Please keep in mind that these piercings aren’t done in order to gross people out- for many people, myself included, stretching is a testament to one’s will, patience, and spirit.

No one finds it cute that a big burly man who looks like an irish santa clause and could probably take on just about anyone decided to sit down with a little chick on his ear-stretchy-thing and take a picture with a cute smile just to send in to CO?

So to jump into the controversial “gross or cute” thing going on, I have to say it’s a tad bit of both. I think that having baby chicks just sitting there, waiting to poop, is gross. (I was traumatized raising my chickens :P) I also agree with Arvay that the ear thing isn’t so bad. I ALSO agree with Arvay’s sister that ear piercing is a form of mutilation, but I don’t find it to be harmful in most cases. There is some slight risk of infection or things like that in some areas (belly buttons are iffy), and they can cause pain (obviously the initial piercing, even of ear lobes, hurts, but so does making those holes bigger, no matter how gradually), but the person is not intentionally causing lasting pain or discomfort, and is, in fact, taking part in a very old multi-cultural practice.

That said, I keep secretly (or not to secretly) hoping that a friend of mine with “snakebites” or double lip piercings gets them sized up so I can see her drink water :P

Arvay, yeah, I do consider those other piercings yucky, though of course correcting a cleft palate is a whole other category, as I hope you agree. I’m just saying, as people have said about numerous photos posted on this site, that I think this ain’t cute. I’m sitting at the computer, not interfering with anybody’s right to do what they want.

He’s a big burly guy with extreme ear-modification, and he’s not worried about being too manly to have a photo of himself with a CUTE FUZZY CHICK! posted on the internet! This guy is brave! I salute him! (Me? Right earlobe pierced once, left earlobe pierced twice, two tattoos.)

Since when is everything out of the ordinary gross and awful? Getting braces involves a lot of pain and moving of parts too, but since when is that so weird? And I luv the yellowfluff. I just hope he keeps it when it’s no longer a tiny cute fluffball, cuz chickens can actually be good as pets, I think.

I don’t think self-mutilation for adornment is a bad thing. People have been doing it for thousands of years, right? I’m just sayin that stretched ears remind me of when the elastic gives out on my granny underpants…

I have a bunch of piercings and a few tattoos but none of them are as cute as this! I think the best part is the fact that most people think people with body-mods are so tough and stoic… but then you go and find us cooing over C.O. just like everyone else!!! Fantabulous picture!

i wonder if this is from central pennsylvania (also known in some circles as “pennsyl-tucky.” it’s the only place i’ve ever been where i saw lots of body piercings and lots of farm animals in the same place.

i loves me a tough guy with a very obvious soft side! you can bet chickie doesn’t care about this guy’s decorative sense, beyond the fact that it provides a great place to snuggle with his favorite peep.

Oh, I love it! Obviously Brian likes messing with people’s heads – the piercings, the facial hair, and the ultimate fashion accessory, a live birdie! ;-)
(I liked the other ones, with the baby rat and the tiny frog, too.)
At first glance, I thought he had a hoop earring, and the chickie was perched in the hoop… but that could be painful and/or dangerous, if the hoop were hanging from an ordinary piercing. If you’re gonna have little pets frolicking in your jewelry, it needs to be properly supported.

No, I don’t have any piercings myself, but that’s purely a personal thing. I do have three tattoos, and I’m beginning to think about another one. Oh, and I’m 59 years old. What will I look like when I’m 80? An 80-year-old woman with tattoos!

Is that a chicken in your ear or are you just glad to see me? Seriously, peep hole was the BEST comment! Why are so many folks coming down on the guy for gauging? If you don’t like it don’t do it, but he has a right to gauge his ears if he wants. He better step it up some so his chickie will have a place to roost when it’s full grown. :-)

LOL!!! I for one, would personally like to welcome Pirate Brian aboard the USS McSnorgle!

I’m not a fan of stretched lobes myself (though I have ear piercings), but Brian has the personality to carry it off, and a cute chick for company to boot. It’s sad to see such rude comments on someone’s personal style.

AnotherAngela;
having been born, raised, and educated in Berkeley, I can say that we really don’t have that many people out here that would waste time, effort, and pain to make their ears look like that. Also, I think it’s lame how many people are commenting just to announce how cool and open minded they are about body modification. Do you want a medal because you don’t get shocked by people who alter their appearance for the purpose of shocking other people? But anyway, I’m going to jump on the bandwagon and give my own personal (and irrelevant) point of view, which is that the human body is most attractive au natural. Yes, I pierced my ears six times so I can accessorize for special occasions, and I really don’t think it’s a bad thing to want to look unique. But in general piercings strike me as being much like make-up and haircuts; trendy and unnecessary. I think this picture is pretty cute though because I like redheads and baby chicks. I can’t help feeling that it’s unsanitary though. Maybe the chick needs a diaper?

I see Brian is getting lots of comments still! Good! I love to see tattooed, pierced men who turn into mush at cute little fluffy things. Epitome of cuteness!!! Some of us luv ya Brian and your chickie!

Monique…..You Sound A Bit Contradictory In Your Post. You Don’t Like The Lame Ego Trips But Have To State That You Are From Berkley And That People There Don’t “Waste Their Time” On Piercings Etc; BUT You Have 6. And; Piercings Are Unnecessary & Trendy But You Have 6.
As For Being Unsanitary, The Hole Itself Is Probably Healed; So There Would Be No Sanitary Problems.

I was just resposnding to someone claiming that practically everyone in my home town has stretched ears. When you’re from a cool and famous town, you get sick of it being used as an example by people who’ve never even been there. Also, trendy and unnecessary doesn’t mean evil. I did something trendy and probably unecessary when I got so many piercings, but I don’t think it was a mistake. I really don’t think there was any call for a personal attack.

Monique, I lived in Berkeley for 12 years. Most of those next to the North Gate of the University of California campus. I worked a block from Durant and Telegraph and each day walked down Telegraph Ave. to see all kinds of body mods I never would have dreamed of. I then lived in Arcata where many young white people sport dreadlocks. I now live in Olympia, WA, where just about everyone has a tattoo. I am 45 years old and have never had a piercing of any kind, nor do I have a tattoo. I like my body natural too. I just don’t care what other people do to theirs. But anyway, I don’t even like humans that much, I think they should stop breeding, and yes, I need a medal!!!

Picking up Arvay’s thread
( “people go, “What will it look like when you’re 80?”) – I can truthfully answer that since I waited to have my tattoos (until 50 plus, actually), they’ll be fresh, brilliant, and not VERY saggy. I think Brian has mischief in his gaze, and that’s even cuter than the chick.

Kinda cute, I love his expression and attitude and the chick is pretty cute (though looking a little grubby?). I thought the teensy frog picture someone linked was VERY cute. Stretched earlobes are not my thing, but what makes all the difference for me is whether they’re still angry red . . . ouch.

I’m with whoever it was that said Brian is a new sort of pirate. :) I wouldn’t put a hole like this in my own ear, but as countless others have said, it’s his body, he looks supremely comfortable and confident, and not too tough a guy to let a peep perch in his ear. Personally, I think this is a very cute and clever picture.

A great number of the comments here (and under the recent hedgie/bikini post) typify the reasons I just don’t like people. And this is the elite “internet savvy” portion of the masses I’m talking about, too. (Way to go, dip$#!ts.)

In other old news, there are still a few folks who justify their weight on the ground, even to my cynical mind. (And honestly, people, it doesn’t take much. A little earnest effort, or simple politeness, and we’re cool.)

So, thanks to the peeps who are making positive contributions. I do mean it.

Persephone, I’m all for long flowing (or afro-ing depending on your level of curl) hippy hair. Yes, you do have to comb out the tangles. But you get a lot of compliments and you never have to pay salons. What I meant was just that people don’t NEED makeup or haircuts any more than they need piercings, but that it’s not really anyone’s business but their own if they WANT them. So good luck on your cosmetic surgery even though you probably are already beautiful.

AnotherAngela, I think I’ve seen like half a dozen people with earlobes this stretched. That doesn’t seem like very many to me but maybe I don’t spend enough time at Zebra. Sorry I questioned your street cred.

And Theo, I bet I’m not one of the people you were thanking and therefore a dips#%t, but I think it’s pretty harsh that you wish most of the people posting were not alive wasting weight on the ground. Do you count yourself among the nice ones after saying something like that? Also, then what would you do all day if there were no people looking at CO?

I want the enjoy this picture but I have an unfortunate hereditary trait of passing out at dumb things like blood, needles and apparently big ear lobes. I’m all “OHH HOW CUTE HE”S FUNNY – WEEE there goes the world over my left sholder!!!” Dang it!!!

This guy just looks too happy to have his favorite chickie in his ear for me to be bothered about anything. It just makes me smile. Plus, ear piercings have been as large as this for centuries. Have you ever seen ancient Egyptian earrings in a museum? While certainly not this size, they are much larger than the common gauge.

Also: Given the number of people of the past and present few generations who have come to embrace body mods, tattoos, etc, I think by the time this guy is old… Old will look different than it does now. The 80 year old tattooed lady or 75 year old guy with facial piercings won’t seem like that big of an anomaly.

It saddens me how nasty some of the people posting in this thread are. I thought this pic was really cute and I was going to send the link to a friend of mine whose boyfriend has stretched lobes, but now I don’t want to because some of the comments are so ugly. thanks for ruining the cute, y’all.

Mia – I can relate to that. I actually passed out when I got my ears pierced. The gun thingy got stuck on my ear – it was all down hill from there. Literally & metaphorically. “How To Cause Pandemonium at the Beauty Salon 101″ :)

Now that he has the babel chicken and can understand everything, Let’s just hope that he doesn’t come across a Vogon ship because we all know how horrible their poetry is.
And to those mean people out there, now he can understand your harsh criticism with his babel chicken, so stop being mean. I believe even the chick understands, look at her bowed head, trying not to cry… :'(

The sheer ignorance of some people writing here astounds me.
I also find it amusing that the people who dislike body modifications such as these and find themselves superior for it, cannot come up with reasons why other than
“ick.”
“ew.”
Hah.
He looks extremely happy & comfortable with himself, so I’m sure he really isn’t bothered by people who focus on his ears & go eurghhhh. Just because it’s different to what you very sheltered people are used to does not mean it’s wrong or disgusting.
The ignorant people who keep saying “OmFGGGG TREND OVERLOADZZZZZ0RZ!!1!one!!” are pretty stupid, as many, many people stretch & have stretched their ears already.
I also like how no one has commented on his large gauge labret, also an “unusual” piercing.
[:

To anyone who left a negative comment about Brian’s appearance, consider a couple of things:
Do you wear make-up?
Do you color your hair?
Do you shave your face, legs, armpits or wax anything or everything?
It’s all body modification. Take a look at yourself. Think you look pretty? Yeah, well Brian thinks he looks pretty, too and I agree. I love this picture!

Hello, I am French and I make a thesis on the modifications of soft fabrics of the oro-labial sphere and I wanted to know if you authorize to me to put the photograph of your site to illustrate my thesis? I find it really original!!! Thank you in advance Elects P.S.: is the bird it a truth?

hey I missed this commentroversy! I realize I’m late to the game here, but seriously Monique, I’m mystified at your comments, having lived in Berkeley/Oakland for 17 years now… there are stretchy-lobey people all over the place! After a while, all the funny people just kind of blend in…and that’s exactly why I love it here! (Collapsed freeway and all.)
This guy could EASILY live in Oakland, and we’d welcome him and his lil’ chicky. OK, local-pride moment over.

I’m certain that once this cute, happy fellow has read the comments here and discovered that some people who’ve never met him don’t find him attractive, he’ll immediately see the light and submit himself to the aesthetic judgment of others. He’ll scurry to get lobe-reduction surgery, remove his labret, shave, and give the chicken away in favor of a more popular pet. Don’t worry, guys, together we’ll eradicate scary abnormality in the world one unacceptable person at a time.

Fred:
There is a solution to all that. Don’t get your ears pierced with a gun. Get it done at a shop! SO much safer. The equipment is better, it doesn’t tear up your ear, and the person actually knows what they’re doing!

Also, to everyone who’s “ick”ing and “yuck”ing, is this really all it takes to reduce you to stammering children?